The partnership between Lin Feng and Xia Qingwu quickly proved effective, though not without friction.
"Stop wasting energy!" Xia Qingwu hissed, ducking beneath a sudden, shimmering Spatial Razor. She immediately countered with a blast of concentrated Crimson Flame from her blade, melting a nearby floating boulder that was about to crush them. "You're relying too much on instinct. The Void Cutter Finger is powerful, but every time you use it, I feel a violent draw on your spiritual sea. You need a technique to filter your Qi."
"I am working on it," Lin Feng replied curtly, his focus absolute. He used the Phantom Flash Footwork to move slightly ahead, sensing the subtle, dangerous shifts in the spatial geometry. "If I filter it, the technique loses its edge. The chaos is the edge."
"Then you will die quickly, no matter how fast you are!"
Despite the bickering, the trust was forming rapidly. In this volatile environment, relying on each other was mandatory. Lin Feng's spatial sense, honed by the Void Seal, allowed them to traverse paths that would instantly kill other cultivators. Xia Qingwu's exceptional combat prowess and abundant Fire Qi covered the times when Lin Feng's Void energy lagged.
Xia Qingwu's Fire Qi proved to be the key to their search. The Crystallized Tears of the Sky Turtle—a mythical creature said to have navigated the cosmic void—radiated a profound coldness. This cold signature was normally undetectable, but Xia Qingwu's high-grade, purifying fire alchemy senses could register the temperature drop, guiding them deeper into the Labyrinth's core.
After another full day of navigating gravity reversals and dimension tears, Xia Qingwu suddenly stopped, her eyes fixed on a massive, vertically floating pillar of dark, crystalline rock.
"There," she whispered, her voice tight with anticipation. "The cold signature is strongest behind that rock face. But there's a strong defensive array."
As they approached, Lin Feng felt a powerful, ancient pulse—a resonance that matched the echo of the Void Soul Seal within him.
"This Labyrinth isn't a natural fault line," Lin Feng murmured, looking at the unnatural geometric cuts in the rock face. "It's artificial. It was built this way."
Xia Qingwu nodded grimly. "That is the secret I promised. My clan's ancient texts speak of this place. The Shifting Void Labyrinth was not created by the world. It was a massive, mobile defensive array constructed by a Void Sovereign in the ancient past to hide a treasure. The Labyrinth's purpose is not just to confuse, but to trap those who don't possess a spatial affinity."
She pointed to a faint, swirling silver symbol engraved on the rock face. "That symbol seals the array. It's a low-grade Void Seal Barrier. No amount of brute force will shatter it."
Lin Feng stared at the symbol. His own Void Seal energy resonated powerfully, almost painfully, with the ancient rune. It wasn't meant to be broken; it was meant to be understood.
"Stand back," Lin Feng commanded.
He placed his hand on the cold crystal. He didn't use the Void Cutter Finger. Instead, he channeled his entire concentration, focusing his Qi Sea energy and the chaotic power of the Void Seal into the rune. He didn't fight the seal; he tried to read its intricate, interwoven spatial rhythm.
It was an agonizing process of mental synchronization. His mind felt like it was tearing apart, trying to match the mind of a long-dead, vastly more powerful master.
Finally, after what felt like an hour, the silver rune pulsed violently, then silently disintegrated. The rock face vanished, revealing a hidden cavern.
Inside the cavern was a breathtaking sight. The air was frigid, illuminated by a thousand shimmering, cobalt blue crystals—the Crystallized Tears of the Sky Turtle. They were dripping with pure essence, forming a small, freezing pool on the floor.
But the pool was guarded. Coiled around the largest cluster of crystals was a giant Stone Qilin, its body fused partially with the rock, its eyes glowing with dull, earthen light. Its cultivation was terrifyingly stable, easily reaching the Peak Qi Sea realm—a formidable guardian they could not simply bypass.
"It's a defensive construct," Xia Qingwu observed, drawing her twin fire blades. "Its weakness is speed and extreme heat. I can't pierce its stony hide, but I can distract it with my full-power Blazing Phoenix Array."
"No," Lin Feng interrupted, noticing the Qilin's movement was sluggish and predictable. "You need to preserve your Qi for the purification. I will handle the Qilin. I need to practice my control."
Lin Feng knew he couldn't defeat the Qilin, but he could dismember it. He activated his Phantom Flash Footwork, blurring into motion.
The Qilin roared, a sound of grinding stone, and lashed out with a massive, rock-hard claw.
Lin Feng evaded the strike effortlessly, then began a rapid, controlled barrage of the Void Cutter Finger. He didn't aim for the head or core, but for the joints and the internal seams of the rock construct.
Hiss. Hiss. Hiss.
Lin Feng used the technique thirty times in ten seconds. The Qilin was suddenly crippled. Its legs became detached chunks of floating rock, and its massive arms were severed cleanly. The Qilin roared in silent, impotent fury as it disintegrated.
Lin Feng stood over the fallen guardian, panting. He had succeeded, but his spiritual sea was violently drained. He was completely vulnerable.
"You idiot! You overused your Qi!" Xia Qingwu scolded, rushing to him. She didn't approach him as a partner or a strategist, but as a caring healer.
She forced him to sit, quickly retrieving an extremely rare, fragrant Fire Recovery Pill from her satchel—a priceless item she would have previously never shared.
As Lin Feng swallowed the pill, he watched her. Her fierce eyes, usually blazing with aggression, were now soft with concern. Their shared danger had deepened their bond beyond a simple contract.
"We need to purify these now," Xia Qingwu said, her voice husky. She then did something unexpected. She didn't move away to concentrate; she sat directly beside him, leaning her back against his, providing him with a profound sense of protection and stability.
"The purifying fire and the Void need to be close," she explained simply. "This is a dangerous process. We protect each other."
Lin Feng, feeling her intense heat radiating through his robes, felt the chaos in his own Qi settle slightly. The heat of her body, and her presence, was a perfect counterpoint to the chaotic coldness of the Void Seal.
They spent the next day refining a dozen of the Crystallized Tears. Xia Qingwu channeled her high-grade Phoenix Fire to melt the crystals into liquid essence, while Lin Feng channeled his Void energy to instantly purify the essence, stripping away the harsh elemental impurities.
They were two souls linked by the demand of their cultivation.
When they emerged from the Labyrinth, they had the refined Tears, Lin Feng had stabilized his Qi Sea realm, and they had gained a profound, unspoken level of trust.
"We go back to Shifting Sands. Elder Ling must honor her end of the bargain," Lin Feng stated.
"Agreed," Xia Qingwu nodded. "But before we return to that old hag, we need to talk strategy. Six months is too short. We need allies, resources, and a way to counter the Violet Flame Dynasty's Imperial Guard."
Lin Feng smiled, a rare genuine expression. "You are already a great ally, Qingwu. Now, let's see what Elder Ling can do for us."